Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Comics Reading Order: Where To Start?

By all rights, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could have remained a comic book curiosity, forgotten to all but the most dedicated comic book readers as an 80’s superhero parody. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s original black-and-white comics openly tease Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men and Daredevil, but then they go on to do something amazing: They create a stunningly entertaining new TMNT universe that stands on its own.

Catching up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics can be initially confusing, as there have been various iterations of the comic since the 80’s. Below I lay out the simplest reading order for new fans looking to explore the Ninja Turtles catalog.

Reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles volume 6 prior to volumes 4 & 5 is clearly counter intuitive, nonetheless it’s the most sensible reading approach. Volume 6 contains a series of one-shots and short stories set within the TMNT universe, and is more for the most dedicated turtles fans.

You certainly don’t need to read Usagi Yojimbo as part of your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reading order, but then again, you also don’t need to read great comics at all. Usagi’s first story arc collected in Saga volume 1 involves the Turtles, and then goes to establish the greatest anthropomorphic samurai this side of Leonardo, Donatello, Rapheal, and Michelangelo.

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About Dave

Dave is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Comic Book Herald, and also the Boss of assigning himself fancy titles. He's a long-time comic book fan, and can be seen most evenings in Batman pajama pants. Contact Dave @comicbookherald on Twitter or via email at dave@comicbookherald.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

the IDW TMNT series is what got me into comics back in 2012. I can’t recommend the series enough. Especially to new readers. Look, the Eastman & Laird vol. 1 stuff is classic and i love it. But I enjoy the IDW series more. And i doubt a new reader wants to drop the cash on one of the beautiful IDW ultimate editions.

And then there are those horrid parts of the “guest era” in vol 1 where they invited other creators to make TMNT material. Some of it was good, most was not.

IDW takes pieces from all the previous iterations of TMNT and molds them into one entertaining story.

And don’t get me started on Usagi. Its my favorite comic of all time. I don’t know if could recommend someone buying Saga vol 1 just for the TMNT story (and the short Leo one), but it IS a good one. And if you’re already into the mirage TMNT anyway then you’ll enjoy the rest of the Usagi book as well.